Hand knitting machine



UCL 5, 954 A OPAWA 2,690,659

HAND KNITTING MACHINE Filed April l5, 1953 INI 'E NTOR.'

, flea BY Maf/vr Patented Get. 5, 1954 4 Claims.

The present invention relates to a hand knitting machine having a set of stationary pins and a set of movable pins, the latter being controlled by a camming slide serving to displace the movable pins with respect to the stationary pins for the purpose of drawing a yarn into loops.

In such machines it is possible to vary the length of the loops, and thereby the tightness of the knit, by utilizing camming slides of diierent widths. In the absence of a special design of the leading edges of these slides, however, this will result in variations of the tension of the yarn, causing increased tension, hence greater resistance to insertion, in the case of the wider slides (whose leading edges simultaneously engage a relatively large number of movable pins) while unduly reducing the tension, thereby facilitating disengagement of the loops from the pins, in the case of the narrower slides (whose leading edges simultaneously engage only ha a relatively small number of movable pins).

I have found, in accordance with the present invention, that an optimum tension can be maintained under all conditions by varying the cam angle of the different slides, i. e. the angle enclosed between the leading edge and the major dimension thereof, in direct relation to the width of the slides, so as to provide progressively more acute cam angles at the leading edges of progressively narrower slides. This can be expressed approximately by the requirement that the length of the leading edge, which equals the width of the slide divided by the sine of the cam angle, be substantially constant for all the slides. In

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this manner it will be possible to maintain, un- :t3

der all operating conditions, a tension that will be sufficient to prevent premature detachment of the loops from the pins yet Without opposing undue resistance to the insertion of the slides.

rlhe invention will be more fully described with ff reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a front elevation of a hand knitting machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is, a section, on a larger scale, taken on the line II-II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the machine, taken on the line III-IIIA of Fig. 2 in its left-hand part and on the line III-IIIB of Fig. 2 in its right-hand part; and

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of a set of three slides adapted to be used with the machine according to the preceding iigures.

The machine shown in the drawing comprises an elongated bar l from which project the heads of a set of xed, upstanding pins 2 aligned in a row. The bar I is removably held in a frame l, as is a housing e which supports a set of movable pins 3 in alternating relationship with the pins 2. The movable pins 3 are bent roughly into Z-shape and comprise a central, horizontal part 3a, an upright, projecting part 3b adjacent the pins 2, and a depending part 3c. An insert 5 within the housing t, consisting of strips 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e bent at right angles to one another, serves as a guide for the pins 3 whose horizontal portions 3a. traverse holes 9 in strip 5c as Well as slots le in strip 5a terminating at the lower edge of this strip and aligned with the holes 9; the depending extremities 3c oi these pins are l guided in slots li within the strip 5e, these latter slots extending at right angles to the bar l and to the main dimension of the housing 4. It will be seen that the pins 3 are readily insertable, with their ends 3c first, into the guide member 5 when the housing i With the member 5 is tilted upwardly to expose the holes 9. A U-shaped clamping strip 8 is subsequently introduced endwise into the housing l and resiliently bears upon the strips 5a and 5d, thereby closing the ends of slots I0 and securely locking the pins 3 within the insert 5.

A camming slide E, insertable from either end of the housing li and adapted to be received between the arms of the U-shaped clamping strip 8, is representative of a plurality of such slides shown at 6a, 6b, 6c in Fig. 4. The leading edges 12a, lh, I2C of these slides are inclined with respect to their longer edges in such manner as to cam the depending parts 'Je of the pins 3 rearwardly to the right (as viewed in Fig. 2) when the slide is inserted into the housing fl. It will be apparent that the extent of the rearward displacement of the pins 3 will be determined by the width of the slide, which decreases progressively from slide Ba to slide Sc, and that in turn the number of pins 3 simultaneously engaged by the camming edges lZa, IZb, I2C thereof increases progressively, from slide 6a to slide 6c, by Virtue of the decreasing cam angle. I have found that with this arrangement it will be possible to produce three different sizes of loops with substantially invariable yarn tension, the number of such sizes being, of course, increasable at will by the use of additional slides designed in the aforedescribed manner.

The frame I is provided with a set of downwardly projecting feet I3 and with rearwardly projecting feet I4 facilitating backward tilting of the device. In operation, the yarn (not shown) is rst loosely attached to one of the xed pins 2 and is thereafter loosely wound, e. g. clockwise, around successive pins 2 to the right of this particular pin. The housing 4 is lifted out of the frame l and is tilted down to let the front ends 3b of the movable pins 3 slide forwardly as far as possible (camming slide 6 having previously been removed). The housing l is then replaced so as to interleave the pins 3 with the pins 2, thereby forming a channel between the forwardly positioned extremities 3b of the movable pins and the pins 2 projecting from the bar I. The yarn is now placed in this channel and the slide 6 introduced into the housing 4, causing the pins 3 to be withdrawn past the pins 2` and to draw the yarn into loops around these xed pins. The loops previously formed on pins 2 are now picked up and thrown off over the heads of these pins, whereupon the bar I is lifted out of the frame 1 and reversed from right to left before being returned to its seat. A new row can now be knitted in the manner already described.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction described and illustrated and that variations and modications of the embodiment specically disclosed are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as dened in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hand knitting machine comprising a support, a row of xed pins on said support, a set of movable pins alternating with said fixed pins, guide means supporting said movable pins, said guide means forming an elongated channel parallel to said row of xed pins, said movable pins having portions extending into said channel, and a plurality of camming slides of different width insertable into said channel for engagement with said portions, each of said camming slides having a leading edge forming an angle with the main dimension of the slide, said angles progressively increasing for progressively wider slides.

2. A hand knitting machine comprising a support, a row of iixed pins on said support, a set of movable pins alternating with said iixed pins, guide means supporting said movable pins, said guide means forming an elongated channel parallel to said row of xed pins, said movable pins having portions extending into said channel, and a plurality of eamming slides of diierent width insertable into said channel for engagement with said portions, each of said camming slides having a leading edge inclined toward the main dimension of the slide, all of said leading edges being of approximately the same length.

3. A hand knitting machine comprising a frame, an elongated bar removably held on said frame, a row of fixed pins on said bar, an elongated housing forming an elongated channel parallel to said bar and held removably on said frame adjacent said bar, a set of roughly Z-shaped pins movably held in said housing and provided with upstanding extremities projecting from said housing and alternating with said xed pins, said housing having aligned sets of apertures and slots traversed by central portions of said Z- shaped pins, said Z-shaped pins being further provided with depending extremities projecting into said channel, said housing further having a set of guide slots extending perpendicular to the main dimension of said channel and traversed by said depending extremities, and a plurality of camming slides of dierent width insertable into said channel for engagement with said depending extremities, each of said camming slides having a leading edge forming an angle with the main dimension of the slide, said angles progressively increasing for progressively Wider slides.

4. A hand knitting machine comprising a frame, an elongated bar removably held on said frame, a roW of iixed pins on said bar, an elongated housing forming an elongated channel parallel to said bar and held removably on said frame adjacent said bar, a set of roughly Z-shaped pins movably held in said housing and provided with upstanding extremities projecting from said housing and alternating with said fixed pins, said housing having aligned sets of apertures and slots traversed by central portions of said Z- shaped pins, said Z-shaped pins being further provided with depending extremities projecting into said channel, said housing further having a set of guide slots extending perpendicular to the main dimension of said channel and traversed by said depending extremities, and a plurality of camming slides of dierent width insertable into said channel for engagement with said depending extremities, each of said camming slides having a leading edge inclined toward the main dimension of the slide, al1 of said leading edges being of approximately the same length.

References Cited in the rile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,718,140 Hagihara June 18, 1929 2,382,614 De La Pena Aug. 14, 1945 

